Perversion of sola fidei
Take a
look at the post below; taken from the Protestant Reformation page, maintained
as a Reformed Baptist page.
On faith
alone, it says thus:
"Faith
alone - Sinful man is declared righteous or justified by faith alone before a
Holy God (Rom 5:1-2). Being justified is a gift through the redemption that is
in Jesus Christ (Rom 3:24)."
Come,
let us reason together; I assume you have a sound mind capable of reasoning.
The
statement above necessarily convey these irrational and unbiblical notions:
1. That
a sinful man - i.e. still in his native state of sin and death, unjustified and
therefore still in his native state of condemnation - is capable of believing,
exercising faith.
- The
Protestants will immediately retort, "why not? He has been freely given
the gift of faith! Of course, he is capable!"
-
Perhaps the Protestants should try giving a dead man the gift of a magic wand
and teach him how to wave the magic wand in order to be declared a Protestant.
Give it a try, then think again what you have just stated.
2. The
Protestants will swiftly rebut, "why not? He has been regenerated by the
Holy Spirit! Of course, he is capable of utilizing the gift of faith."
- Now
the Protestants are into deeper error; an error will inevitably lead to
another. The Protestants are now saying that a sinful man, whom God has not
justified freely by grace, is already born again by His Spirit!
- The
Protestants have forgotten that righteousness is the indispensable prerequisite
for life. Sin brings condemnation and death; righteousness secures
justification and life.
- This
is an elementary biblical truth; without righteousness, there can be no life.
Without justification, the accounting of Christ's righteousness to the sinful
man, there can be NO life for the sinful man; he remains as spiritually dead as
ever, completely impotent of any spiritual activities like discerning spiritual
things and believing them.
-
Spiritual life must precede the activities of that life; it is as basic as
that.
3. The
Protestants' sola fidei have repudiated one basic biblical fact.
- A
sinful man - in his native state of sin and condemnation, and completely
incapable of any spiritual activities like discerning spiritual things and
believing - is justified freely by God's grace based solely upon the
righteousness of His own provision through the obedience of His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ.
- Romans
3:24 KJV — Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus.
-
Doesn't this passage completely debunk the sola fidei fiction? The
justification of the sinful man can't possibly be freely by the grace of God
and also by man's faith at the same time, can it? No, one is the cause, the
other is the effect and evidence. Basic, is it not?
- In
justifying a man (i.e. who is still in his native state of condemnation, only
such a man is in need of justification by God; isn't that basic!), God freely
accounts to him personally the righteousness of Christ the redeemer and
declares him not guilty but righteous.
- God's
free and gracious act of accounting to him personally Christ's righteousness is
the divine warrant for the Holy Spirit's work of regeneration. Justification
logically precedes regeneration. This is why justification is described as the
justification of life.
- Romans
5:18 KJV — "Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men
to condemnation [of death]; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift
came upon all men unto justification of life."
- Sin
brought condemnation and death, righteousness secures justification and life.
This is basic too.
4. The
Protestants have ignored the repeated statements that a man believes the gospel
because he has already been freely justified by God. The Scriptures declare
that it is "the just shall live by faith." (Hak 2:4, Rom 1:17, Gal
3:11, Heb 10:38).
- Who
shall live by faith? The just.
- Who
are the just? Those condemned dead whom God has freely justified.
- When
were they freely justified by God? When they were in their native state of
death and condemnation.
- Did
their believing/faith play any role in their justification by God's free grace?
No, they were incapable of faith in their unjustified state.
- On
what ground did God freely justify them? They have been freely justified solely on
the ground of Christ's righteousness accounted to them personally.
- Why
are the just able to believe? The justified are regenerated because the
justification is the justification of life.
Aren't
all these simple and basic???
What has
bewitched the Protestants?
Sound
bytes?
Just as
breath justifies/vindicates that the dead man has been freely made alive, EVEN
SO, faith justifies/vindicates that the condemned man has been freely justified
by God. Isn't this so basic? Why are the brainy and smart Protestants not
seeing the obvious?
And why
are the Baptists following the Protestants so blindly? Haven't they heard of the
Baptist John Gill? [Baptists were no Protestants; Protestants are descended
from those in the bosom of RCC who rose up to protest against their Mother
Harlot.]
Matthew
11:25 KJV — At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
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5 Solas
of the Reformation
